Gas turbine engines typically include a compressor section, a combustor section, and a turbine section. During operation, air is pressurized in the compressor section, and is mixed with fuel and burned in the combustor section to generate hot combustion gases. The hot combustion gases are communicated through the turbine section, which extracts energy from the hot combustion gases to power the compressor section and other gas turbine engine loads.
Typically, both the compressor and turbine sections include alternating arrays of vanes and rotating blades that extend into a core airflow path of the gas turbine engine. For example, in the turbine section, turbine blades rotate and extract energy from the hot combustion gases. The turbine vanes guide the airflow and prepare it for a downstream array of blades. Some engines include variable area turbine sections, which include vanes that are moveable to vary the area of the core airflow path. Movement of the vanes is controlled to optimize the performance of the engine during various operating conditions.